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Immaculate Clean Client Testimonial


hey all havent posted in about 7 years, but i picked up my cameras again and decided to do some work for businesses down here in Sarasota

but i wanted feedback on this video i shot for a client, she has a cleaning business down here in Sarasota, im using the Sony ZV-E10 with the kit lens, she liked it and paid me for it ($150 lol) and hired me for another which we shoot on wednesday,

I want to be more cinematic with my videos, i'm not sure what that entails other than more practice and more pre-production, but let me know your thoughts on this, also do you think the Sigma 18-50mm 2.8f would help me achieve a better depth of field and more cinematic look?
 
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It's a good lens, and you can get a good variety of looks with it. It's sharpest around the 34 mm mark, but you'll get some of your most impressive indoor shots way at the bottom, with the 50 still available for closeups of the details, and the interview shots.

The bigger issue, that would do more to improve this reel, would be a better balance and sequencing of camera moves. For one thing, you're overdoing it already, in an attempt to integrate cinematography into a limited scope reel. The easiest, simplest change you can make for free right now would be to balance points of interest on the third lines more often.

Here's my advice. Think about the motivation behind each camera move, both on site and during the edit. Do you want someone to notice a detail? Move in on that detail. Do you want an establishing shot that really sells the scope of lets say an estate? Maybe pull out with a cheap drone so they can see the whole thing all at once. The guiding principle here is not to add cinematography for it's own sake (unless you're making a narrative movie that can use those shots to regulate pacing). Not every shot should move, but every shot whether it's moving or not should have a strong intent. What am I trying to get across with this shot, can I enhance it with motion, and does moving the camera add to or subtract from the viewer's focus on the main thing I'm trying to get them to pay attention to.

Let's say I'm shooting a scene where someone in a beautiful, expensive apartment that the set designer spent a lot of time and money on. The scene is that the actor hears a phone ring and answers it. In the moment where he or she picks up the phone, I'm going to shoot the hand picking up the phone with a close tripod shot with DOF. I want the viewer to focus on the phone call being answered. There's probably 10 amazing shots I could get, orbiting around the guy, framing the whole apartment to show off the set, a slider shot that triggered lens flares as the phone was answered. Those however, would detract from what I was trying to communicate.

Now the voice on the phone says, "The apartment is yours, welcome to LA". Now it's time to do some huge cinematography shot where it pulls out from the actor still holding the phone, looking out the glass wall, and the camera pulls back so far that you can see the entire landscape with the apartment in the center. In short, don't overdo it, don't move every shot, and basically just try to nail a couple of big shots per video, and focus on coherent content delivery the rest of the time.

Out of all your cinematography equipment, your brain is the most important to improving your reels. In more actionable advice, I'd say the purchase of a gimbal. being able to run and gun with a steady camera would probably make more difference than any other piece of gear.

Anyway, the video wasn't bad, good exposure, smooth pans. I just got a little seasick watching so many shots in a row panning down or similar.
 
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